


He still exists

by ZessOnATeaCloud



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Azkaban, Crying, Deserved Happy Ending, Family Reunions, Father-Daughter Relationship, First Meetings, Hugs, Kissing, M/M, Married Couple, POV Alternating, POV First Person, Parent Harry Potter, Parent Severus Snape, Past Long Distance Relationships, Post-Deathly Hallows, Post-Hogwarts, Post-War, Ungrateful Wizarding World, Wrongful Imprisonment, happy tears, so much crying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-07
Updated: 2017-12-07
Packaged: 2019-02-11 20:49:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12943602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZessOnATeaCloud/pseuds/ZessOnATeaCloud
Summary: Severus got imprisoned afte the war. Nobody expected Harry to stand by his side.Now it's years later and Severus is finally being released. Harry stands at the shore waiting for him with a special little someone.





	He still exists

**Author's Note:**

> This is not beta read.
> 
> Warning! There is mentioning of past Mpreg but it's so short and non-graphic that it seemed strange to make an extra tag for it.

_„HARRY POTTER VICTORIOUS! HE-WHO-MUST-NOT-BE-NAMED DEAD!”_

_“The-Boy-Who-Got-Knocked-Up - Harry Potter pregnant!?”_

_“Speculation about the mysterious father of Harry Potter’s child”_

_“DEATH EATER TRIALS. Severus Snape in court!”_

_“Scandal! Potter speaks up for Snape!”_

That was four years ago and now everything looks like before.  
The people have closure and they live their lives just like before. As if nothing had happened.  
As if there had been no losses. As if there was nobody to miss.

People still loved gossip and especially loved it to tear me apart and dissect me.  
At his trial I told the world that it was his baby.  
They pleaded him guilty and he is at Askaban, however I have never turned my back on him, I have never betrayed or abandoned him. That led to them turning their backs on me.

I’m standing at the shore, anxiously waiting. My hands are wet and I feel sick, like I have been feeling for the past few days. Hell, weeks.  
“Daddy, my hand” squeaks a child’s voice next to me.  
“I’m sorry sweety” I say and look down to her. My eyes start to tear up almost immediately and her look gets concerned as she looks up to me.  
“Why you cwying Daddy? U huwt?” she is my everything. Without her I would never have survived these past years.  
“No, I… Daddy is just excited and… happy” I explain to her with a smile.  
“Papa come home today?” she asks curiously. She has constant thirst for knowledge and is so smart, like her father. She definitely inherited his intellect.

I pick her up because by now I need something to hold onto. Today is the day. Finally. After four endless years the time was here and Severus would return to me. To us.  
Our little girl does not quite understand it. The man her daddy is so excited and happy to see is someone she only knows from stories and a few older pictures. Severus is a stranger to our daughter. She has never met her father. I became pregnant not long before the last battle started.

Her little arms warp around my neck.  
“Ewything is gonna be okay Daddy…” she tries to console me and I smile at her sweet attempt. She has such a big heart.

There comes a boat. It has to be him but still, I pray to everything and everyone I can imagine right now that it really is him in there and that I can take him home with me again. Wiping my eyes so I won’t look like I have been crying as much as I did, I stare at the small boat.  
The boat reaches the shore. My knees are so shaky I have no idea if they will hold me up or not.  
A skinny figure emerges, very clumsy and barely standing. The former elegance is nearly impossible to see.

Because it's so foggy I can't see him clearly before he stands a few feet away.

He is skinny, dirty. His hair clutching in long greasy bangs to his face. A beard has grown but through all of that I see two obsidian eyes and they lost nothing of their shine and fire. They were not able to break him. I am so proud of him.

Severus looks at me like I am just an imagination. It’s me who can’t stand it any longer. As if I’m under some sort of hypnosis I put my daughter down and run towards Severus. I throw myself at him and he is so weak that he stumbles and falls. But I don’t care.  
Just like I don’t care that he smells absolutely revolting. It’s my Severus.

As soon as I feel him under my touch I press my lips against his rough ones. The kiss is full of longing and hope after all this years but also hesitant. It’s almost like we are testing if the other is real or just a horribly vivid dream and if he still wants us.

“Severus” it is barely more than a whispered sob while we separate. Yes, he really needs a shower but filthy or not it’s my Severus. That thought starts a merry-go round in my head. I have been afraid in what state I would find him. If he would recognize me, if he had changed much, if he had given up.

His clammy torn hands find their way to may face and cup it like a porcelain doll. “Harry.”  
His once beautiful voice is nothing more than a really hoarse murmur because he did not use it for so long.  
“I missed you. Missed you so much” now I can’t hold the sobbing back. I see that my strong Severus, who barely shows emotions, is crying.  
Severus clings to me, fearing he will be taken away again. No matter who tries it, I won’t let them. Never again.

“Daddy?” a hesitant almost angsty little voice asks behind us. How could I forget her?!  
I straighten myself pulling Severus with me because I have the feeling he won’t be able to do it on his own. After that I turn around and smile at her.

“Come to me sweety” when she is with us I take her hand into mine. She hides behind me. No wonder. Severus is not exactly the poster boy for trustworthiness and a stranger to her. A filthy, reeking stranger who looks a lot like the bad men I warned her about and who makes her Daddy cry.

“Severus, may I introduce your daughter?” again I have to wipe happy tears away. He stares like he has never seen me before. Astonished and completely overwhelmed. A subtle but reassuring nod gives him the courage to look at her.  
“Daughter…” he whispers silently. His eyes are sparkling.  
“You can say hello” I now reassure our daughter. The girl holds her hand out and puts an insecure smile on her lips. She is a very shy person.  
“H-hello… Daddy says you my Papa. Don’t rweally know what that means” she admits, ”he also says that you was rweeaally brave for us… I think he is happy, even when he is crwying the whole time” she whispers loudly and manages to ease the tension with her innocent and sweet thought.  
Carefully Severus takes his daughter’s hands, acting like she was made out of glass. Reverent he lets his eyes wander over her. Head to toe.

“Hello…” that is all he manages. This pretty little girl is really his daughter.  
Unsure he turns to me and I still can’t do much more than smile a stupid but blissful smile.  
“What…?” Severus voice breaks, it has been a while since he last got something to drink and his throat is painfully sore but he is used to that.  
“He would like to know your name” I translate for the girl.  
“Elise” she answers willingly and chews on her lip. Harry did it all the time even though he was sure the boy – no, the man, his man – was unaware of it.

His Gryffindor wasn't the young boy anymore. He has grown up, that is clearly visible. A pain shoots through him the moment he realizes just how long he's been away. His daughter could talk, walk and is her own person. He missed everything. Again tears run down his face into his scruffy beard.

She turns to her dad. “Did I say som'thing wrong Daddy?” she doesn't understand why we are still crying and just can't stop.  
I shake my head and take a shaky breath as I look at the two most important people in my life.  
“No sweaty. You did not say anything wrong. Daddy and Papa” I can't stop the sob from escaping my mouth, to be able to say that, to be able to talk about him and me as parents is overwhelming. So I wrap my arms around his neck, not caring how dirty he is because he is with me, finally.  
Severus picks up my train of thoughts even though it must be extremely straining on his voice and I can hear that he still cries. Elise tilts her head sideways, the way she does when she is thinking about something.  
“We are just happy” he explains to our daughter and I let go of him just in time to see an unbelievable sparkle in his eyes.

Azkaban did not break him.

“Daddy can we go home now? I'm getting cold.”  
“Yes, sweety We will go home now. Why don't you go ahead and wait by the car” I almost lost hope to ever be able to say these words. Severus' look is entangled with mine as I utter the words again. They sound so unreal “We are going home.”

“You are so grown up... the new model suits you” whispers Severus as if he doesn't know what else to say and I laugh because of that and out of pure happiness and then I kiss him again. I got a new pair of glasses as a sign of a new beginning.  
Our little girl was already a few feet ahead when I helped him stand up with a firm but gentle grip on his arm since his legs surely could not support him on their own.

“She is... amazing” his croaking is almost not understandable but the pride he feels is more than obvious. He takes pride in the fact that Harry managed to raise this little wonder all by himself. He feels pride and never ending gratefulness that Harry did not leave him after all this time although it would be the easiest thing to do. And he was proud that together they had created something wonderful and amazing. He only knows the girl for about ten minutes now but that is more than enough to fall head over heels and irrevocably in love with her. For her and for this great man in front of him did he fight. Fought and kept going against all odds.

I understand him even when he speaks unclear, I support him on the way to the car.  
“She is a small miracle and you will see that she is just as smart and as inquisitive as her father” I reply with a big smile on my face.  
“And she... is as beautiful... as her Daddy” is his answer which makes me blush and my heart beat faster. Yes, this is my Severus. He still exists.


End file.
